1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus and an inspection method.
2. Description of Related Art
After their manufacturing process, display panels usually undergo a lighting inspection for determining whether there are any defects such as pixel defects therein. In this lighting inspection, it is necessary to supply a drive signal to a liquid crystal panel, which is the object to be inspected. Further, a circuit inspection can be performed by performing an array inspection. For example, a drive signal is supplied to a mother glass substrate before it is cut into a plurality of sections. Therefore, the inspection apparatus is provided with, as its inspection station, an electric inspection apparatus including an inspection pedestal on which a liquid crystal panel, which is the object to be inspected, is placed in a state where its electrodes face upward, and a probe unit supported on a fixed frame body disposed above the object to be inspected.
As this type of an electric inspection apparatus, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-23139 discloses an inspection apparatus for a liquid crystal panel. In this inspection apparatus, a liquid crystal panel is placed on a work table of an inspection stage. The inspection stage includes a driving pedestal capable of moving in XYZθ-directions and a rotating pedestal.